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Rikk Flohr_Photography
Community Manager
Rikk Flohr_PhotographyCommunity Manager
June 24, 2018
Question

P: Lightroom for Mobile: Lost files and/or Presets after uninstalling/reinstalling App

  • June 24, 2018
  • 12 replies
  • 5929 views

This article applies to Lightroom for iOS, iPadOS, Android, and ChromeOS.

Your account at Adobe is based upon an Adobe ID (email address). Many people have accumulated more than one Adobe ID so make sure which Adobe ID is associated with your currently logged in session on your devices and any subscription(s) you may have at Adobe. Many missing asset issues can be resolved by correcting the Adobe ID.

 

Uninstalling and reinstalling an application on a mobile device such as iOS or Android follows the prescribed app removal process of the individual devices’ OS and is solely at the mercy of the OS. When you uninstall an App from a device, all the applications support files are removed as well.

 

In the case of Lightroom Mobile this can include:

  • Images taken with the LrM in-app camera
  • Images imported into the LrM app
  • Edits performed using the LrM app
  • Presets installed into the LrM app

 

Recovery of these items depends upon your status as a subscribed-customer and/or your backup status via your device’s OS-level backup. 

 

If you are a subscribed customer who is fully synced with Adobe’s Cloud (note your synced status: “Synced and Backed up” will be indicated by tapping on the cloud icon) and not over your storage quota, you can uninstall without risk. Once you reinstall, log in using your subscribed Adobe ID and go online. Your images, edits and presets will sync back to your device.

 

If you are subscribed customer who is not fully synced with Adobe’s Cloud (note your synced status is not: “Synced and Backed up” when tapping on the cloud icon), any files, edits and presets which are not synced from your device to the cloud will be unrecoverable from Adobe after reinstallation of the LrM App. This includes files which have not synced due to the account being over its storage quota. Normally synced files should download again once you’ve logged on with the correct Adobe ID and are online.

 

If you are not a subscribed customer, or are a previously subscribed customer who no longer subscribes, all files, edits, and presets are not recoverable if you uninstall the LrM App and reinstall it. Your ability to recover these items will require that you've made a backup using the device operating system or a back up to a desktop computer in order to restore your file.  (e.g. using I-tunes backup to restore the app from a PC)

 

Ultimately, uninstalling any application on any device can put your files at risk. Regular backups are a way to mitigate this but, barring a regular backup, keeping backup opies of purchased presets and creating copies of edited files will help ensure you don’t accidentally delete a needed file if you are not a fully-synced customer.  

 

    12 replies

    P
    Paul22769835kxyu
    Participant
    January 21, 2022

    I just switched my accounts because my subscription has ended. Just saw that my /Users /username/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom CC/Develop Presets is empty. Any suggestions how else I could get back my dozens of Presets from my former acc?

    Thankful for any help!!!

    Paul 🙂

    Ranjisha Sengupta
    Ranjisha Sengupta
    Legend
    January 21, 2022

    Hi Paul,

     

    Thanks for reaching out. 

    Would you mind sharing the versions of your macOS and Lightroom? What is your registered email ID (DM us)? Can you check and see if you can find the presets on this location: User/[username]/Pictures/Lightroom/Lightroom Library.lrlibrary, if it is there, you need to right click> select 'Show package content' > [Alphanumeric Folders (Example:d0e47da696214c30b)]

    Check all the folders and try to find "cr_settings", this is where Adobe Lightroom Desktop stores its presets.

     

    Let us know if that helps.

     

    Regards,

    Ranjisha

    T
    Tereza226196633hws
    Participant
    January 12, 2022

    Hello, 

    I can't find my presets in app. When I inadvertently deleted the app and then reinstalled it. Can I find the original presets I bought? Also I forgot when I bought this presets. 
    Can you help me with this?  

    Jim Wilde
    Community Expert
    Jim WildeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 12, 2022

    Do you have an Adobe subscription, are are you using the free version of the Lightroom mobile app? If the latter, the only way you would be able to restore your pictures and presets would be if you have an iTunes or iCloud backup of the iPhone taken before your deleted and reinstalled the app.

     

    If you have a subscription, everything should have synced to the cloud and should therefore automatically restore to the phone when you reinstalled the Lightroom app.

    B
    Brozen
    Participant
    August 31, 2021

    Why did the data like photos and presets that I had previously disappeared after I did a reinstall? 

     

    any suggestions regarding this case? 

     

    Thanks

    Victoria Bampton LR Queen
    Community Expert
    Victoria Bampton LR QueenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 31, 2021

    Do you have a subscription, and were the photos safely synced to the cloud? 

     

    When you say you reinstalled, you deleted the app and then you installed it again? If so, the local data would have been deleted. If you were synced to the cloud, as long as you signed back in with the same Adobe ID, they'd have downloaded again. If they weren't synced, your only recovery option would be a backup of your phone.

    Victoria - The Lightroom Queen
    drclassykids
    drclassykids
    Participant
    June 16, 2021

    I lost my presets and I had hundreds of them saved in my Lightroom app. Does anyone know how to recover these?

    B
    Brittney5E66
    Participant
    June 16, 2021

    I thought mine were gone too! But upload photo then click preset, then click library and then scroll down to user presets 

    drclassykids
    drclassykids
    Participant
    June 17, 2021
    Wow! You’re a lifesaver I found it. Thank you so much!--
    Deanna Rogers
    Owner/President
    ClassyKidsSC.com
    (864)630-5497
    U
    unique_individual0D45
    Participant
    July 9, 2020

    Tried everything. Redownloaded app... responded presets. I cannot find them in the app. They are not visible. 

     

    Any help would be appreciated.   Thank you. 

    U
    unique_individual0D45
    Participant
    July 9, 2020

    Reuploaded presets

    B
    Barbyoliver
    Participant
    January 25, 2020

    I changed my cellphone and lost the presets i created in the app, please, HELP!

     

    {Moved from Lightroom Cloud to Lightroom Mobile Forum by Moderator} 

    I
    Community Manager
    Ignacio B.Community Manager
    Community Manager
    January 27, 2020

    Hi,

    did you restore from a backup?

    Thanks,
    Ignacio

    S
    Su88ok
    Participant
    December 13, 2019

    Hi

     

    i lost my mobile presets after uninstalling et reinstalling lightroom

    tips?

    JohanElzenga
    Community Expert
    JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 13, 2019

    What version of Lightroom? If you use the free version of Lightroom Mobile, then this is expected. When you uninstall an app, you also uninstall its data, and the free version does not sync its data to the cloud. If you use any other version of Lightroom, this should not happen.

    -- Johan W. Elzenga
    K
    kaitlynlgreen0102
    Participant
    December 6, 2019

    I use Lightroom on my iPhone and have purchased presets through Digi Girls. I recently switched phone networks, but kept the same phone. I was logged out of the Lightroom app and now when I log in, my purchased presets are not there. Anyone know of a way to get them back?

    Akash Sharma
    Akash Sharma
    Legend
    December 6, 2019

    Hi there,

     

    Sorry that your presets from Lightroom mobile app have gone missing after you reinstalled the app. 

     

    Could you please check if your presets and images are on Lightroom Web? Link: https://lightroom.adobe.com/

     

    Thanks,

    Akash

    T
    traceyb13632992
    Participant
    October 16, 2019

    Hi there,

     

    After having issues with Mojave update, I reinstalled everything on my Mac.  When reopening CC and LR Classic, there are no presets.  Not even the stock standard default LR presets.  Anyone else with this problem?

     

    JohanElzenga
    Community Expert
    JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 16, 2019

    Do you already have some images in Lightroom? Lightroom will not show any presets if you don't.

    -- Johan W. Elzenga
    kamilan
    kamilan
    Participant
    March 17, 2019

    I logged out of Lightroom CC (free) and logged in and my photos and presets were gone. Is it really supposed to be like that if I'm not using the paid app? Thanks

    Akash Sharma
    Akash Sharma
    Legend
    March 26, 2019

    Hi kamilan,

    Sorry to learn that you've lost certain presets after you've logged in and out of Lightroom CC application.

    Could you please let us know the version of Lightroom CC app you're using and on which device are you experiencing this issue?

    Thanks,

    Akash

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